Stocks ended mostly lower today, drifting little changed
throughout much of the session ahead of the Labor Department
tomorrow releasing a belated jobs report for September. The S&P
500 briefly rose to an all-time high early in the session while the
Nasdaq Composite Index was up a fourth session, to its best levels
since the Internet bubble before losing steam in afternoon trade.
Technology stocks performed well during the session, while shares
of consumer staple and industrial companies also squeezed out small
sector gains.